e deacon stopped and said, "Is't out? is't out?"

"Gang your ways home," quo' I very coolly, "for I hae a notion that a'
this hobleshow's but the fume of a gill in your friend Robin's head."

"It's no possible!" exclaimed the deacon.

"Possible here or possible there, Mr Girdwood," quo' I, "it's oure cauld
for me to stand talking wi' you here; we'll learn the rights o't in the
morning; so, good-night;" and with that I pulled down the window. But
scarcely had I done so, when a shout of laughter came gathering up the
street, and soon after poor drunken Robin was brought along by the cuff
of the neck, between two of the town-officers, one of them carrying his
drum. The next day he was put out of office for ever, and folk
recollecting in what manner I had acted towards him before, the outcry
about my arbitrary power was forgotten in the blame that was heaped upon
those who had espoused Robin's cause against me.

CHAPTER XXXIV--THE COUNTRY GENTRY

For a long period of time, I had observed that there was a gradual mixing
in of the country gentry among the town's folks. This was partly to be
ascribed to a necessity rising out of the French Revolution, whereby men
of substance thought it an expedient policy to relax in their ancient
maxims of family pride and consequence; and partly to the great increase
and growth of wealth which the influx of trade caused throughout the
kingdom, whereby the merchants were enabled to vie and ostentate even
with the better sort of lairds. The effect of this, however, was less
protuberant in our town than in many others which I might well name, and
the cause thereof lay mainly in our being more given to deal in the small
way; not that we lacked of traders possessed both of purse and
perseverance; but we did not exactly lie in the thoroughfare of those
mighty masses of foreign commodities, the throughgoing of which left, to
use the words of the old proverb, "goud in goupins" with all who had the
handling of the same. Nevertheless, we came in for our share of the
condescensions of the country gentry; and although there was nothing like
a melting down of them among us, either by marrying or giving in
marriage, there was a communion that gave us some insight, no overly to
their advantage, as to the extent and measure of their capacities and
talents. In short, we discovered that they were vessels made of ordinary
human clay; so that, instead of our reverence for them being augmented